NOTD: MUA Nail Varnish in Shade 2 Black

Another one of my little treats, this was an impulse buy in Superdrug at just £1 as I was looking to replace my old bottle of black nail polish.

MUA can be really hit and miss, with some products performing as well as designer brands such as Bobbi Brown and others missing the mark. Which category does this nail varnish fit in?

MUA Nail Varnish from here

I applied one coat of this varnish and was surprised at how easily it went on. The lid is quite easy to hold and the brush is a good size that doesn's shed. One coat seemed thick enough so I didn't go in for a second. However, although the polish was thick enough to cover the nail with a good opaque coat, it still left gaps in the polish where it didn't cover the nail. Also, within a day I'd already started to see chips and wear on the nail tip, as pictured.

Although it is a great price and easy to use, the bottle itself is a little small at 6.2ml and it chips far too quickly.

However, I have noticed that MUA has stopped selling this particular polish and the new polishes come in much nicer bottles and have I assume been reformulated. I'd still be tempted to try out the new nail polishes especially the Essie dupes and hopefully this was just a one off.

MUA Make Up Academy Haul - Blusher Bronzer and Pressed Powder

As you'll have guessed by now, I love to try out affordable make up products from lines such as ELF and MUA. The MUA range just keeps getting bigger and with prices starting at £1, it would be rude not to try out more.

I picked up a relatively small haul the other week from Superdrug of 2 blushers, 1 bronzer and 1 pressed powder, all of which cost just £1! I've heard a lot of recommendations on these products and wanted to give them a shot. Here's my verdict...

Make Up Academy Bronzer Shade 3

I was really impressed with this product and it's my favourite from the haul. A matte shade with great pigmentation, this gave an easy to use and even application that worked really well on my light olive skin. For anyone who prefers to stick to a bronzer that's closer to their natural shade, I'd recommend a shade lighter for and other light olive skins out there. However, I really liked this shade and think it'll look even better once I've caught a little bit of sun as Spring arrives.

Make Up Academy Pressed Powder Shade 4 

This is a great product! The perfect shade for my skintone, it's easy to apply with no fallout and gives an even application. Result!

Make Up Academy Blush in Shade 4

In the package, this looks like a brown-red shade, but upon application it comes out much more red toned than I had imagined. More like a dark red terracotta, the product has great pigmentation and is a little uneven in application (although I'd suggest trying this out with a primer). For my skin this was much too dark but this would be great on darker skins.

Make Up Academy Blush in Shade 3

This looks so similar to Shade 4 in the packet that I had to buy both! Although it looks a little peachier in the package and in the second picture, this is actually more of a brownish red colour. Not as dark as Shade 4, it is slightly earthier and I did feel a little patchy. Although this was better on my skin tone that Shade 4, it was still a touch ark for my skin.

Overall

As you can imagine with budget brands, it really is a case of trial and error to find the producys that suit you best. However, at these prices you could buy the entire blush collection for less than the price of a drugstore lipstick and really experiment.

I really like the packaging and on the slightly more expensive products it is even better and it doesn't feel any cheaper to other drugstore brands to me.

I would however like to see them name the products as the numbers are not very memorable!

Best for: Anyone looking to experiment with their colours

MUA Product Review Pink Lipstick Shade 4

MUA Lipstick Shade 4 Swatch available here 

Although it’s been around for a while, this is the very first lipstick I’ve brought from MUA.  Pretty much every item in the MUA range is £1, which is an absolute bargain price and makes it all too tempting to pick these up along with your lunch.

Before I even begin, my favourite part of these lipsticks is the ends. At the base of each lipstick is a clear cover which is filled with a sample of the actual lipstick inside. What better way to make sure that the colour inside the tube is the same as the swatch on the outside?

This particular shade, number 4, is a bright blue based hot pink colour. The application is easy and the formula is very sheer, although the other lipsticks from the range have different formulations. As an added perk, this one smells like vanilla!

I personally love the packaging. A lot of people seem to think it feels cheap, but I disagree. It's a glossy black bullet and not underwhelming at all.

At 3.8g, you can’t beat the value. This is a great colour to wear everyday and I can’t wait to try out the other colours, especially number 15 which is a dupe for Topshop’s Coy.

What’s your favourite MUA lipstick colour?

Beauty Haul - Collection 2000, Technic and MUA

Finally got my hands on two lip creams from the Collection 2000 Cream Puff range. I got Fairy Cake and Cotton Candy. I’ve been wearing Fairy Cake with my Benefit Coralista and they go really well together. As long as you use a lipbalm first (I’ve been using Carmex) they look really good and don’t sit in ridges you may have.  These are currently on offer for two for £5 in Superdrug, Boots and Wilkinsons.

Technic Cherry Boom Boom and Carnival, MUA Lip Gloss and Liquid Eyeliner, Collection 2000 Cream Puffs

I’ve been dying to get my hands on Technic Carnival (The OPI Rainbow Connection from The Muppets Collection Dupe). If you don’t have a stockist near you, there are some going on ebay here. I bought this and a pastel pink called Cherry Boom Boom from the Technic Pretty Pastels collection. I’ve just tried it on and I think that it’ll look great with two coats. I’ll do a NOTD on that later.

Collection 2000 Cream Puffs in Fairy Cake and Cotton Candy, MUA Lip Gloss in Shade 5

Last but not least is MUA or Make Up Academy. I’ve seen a lot of people talking about this on other blogs and I’d never heard of it before. I walked past the stand in Superdrug and found a small selection though and everything is a pound!  I just bought a lipgloss in shade 5, a pale peachy pink and a black liquid eyeliner. I haven’t tried the eyeliner but the gloss is a pretty good. The colour is a very glossy pale pink when it’s on with some very subtle small bits of shimmer. The consistency is good, it smells very strongly like artificial vanilla but it tastes horrible so be warned! However, for a pound it’s pretty good!

Have you bought anything from MUA or Technic? What did you think?